Fire alarm devices such as audible horns (audible/visible or A/V), loudspeakers (speaker/visible or S/V) and visible strobes (visible only or V/O), are referred to as “notification appliances.” Typically, a fire alarm control panel (FACP) drives these devices over one or more “notification appliance circuits” (NACs) for non addressable devices or “Signaling Line circuits” in the case of addressable devices. The strobes are required, for example, as an alert for the hearing-impaired, or for those in a high noise environment.
A strobe device is typically made up of a high-intensity Xenon flash tube, an electronic control circuit, a terminal block to connect the device to the NAC, a housing, a strobe reflector assembly, and a transparent protective dome.
The strobe device is a notification device designed to disperse its light output in a predetermined pattern. Further, the strobe may output different colors to signal a different type of alarm. For example, an amber color output of the strobe is indicative of a mass notification output. Thus, the different colors of output light aid in providing more information to occupants of a building. In order to output the desired color, the strobe device can be fitted with a strobe cover of the desired color. However, the strobe cover adds another variable when configuring and maintaining the fire alarm system. Accordingly, a need exists to aid in configuring and maintaining strobe covers for strobes in a fire alarm system.